In 2000, citing the disastrous condition of
the Michigan Foster Care system, particularly in communities of color, Michigan
through the Department of Human Services (DHS) received money from the Annie
E. Casey Foundation to pilot the Family to Family initiative. The Family
to Family initiative has four key strategies:

1) Recruitment, training and
support of resource families (foster and relative). This includes finding
local resources that can support children and families in their own neighborhoods
by recruiting, training and supporting foster parents and relative caregivers;

2) Building community partnerships.
This includes partnering with community organizations in neighborhoods with
the highest referral rates to support families in the child welfare system
to build stronger neighborhoods and stronger families.

3) Family team decision-making.
This involves not just foster parents and caseworkers but also birth families
and community members in all placement decisions.

4) Self-evaluation. This process
using data linked to child and family outcomes to drive decision making, to
show where change is needed, and where progress has been made.

Family to Family is currently operating in several
Michigan counties and will be a
statewide initiative by 2008. One part of the initiative is the Team Decision
Making meeting, or TDM. Prior to the initiative, a decision to remove a child
from his or her family was made solely by the child protective services worker
and the supervisor, often with no input from the family or other community
members. Under the initiative, a TDM is held for all decisions involving
removal of a child, change of placement or reunification or other permanency
plan. The goal of a TDM is to reach a team consensus decision regarding placement
that protects the child and preserves the family. If a consensus cannot be
reached, the ultimate decision rests with the DHS and Child Protective Services
staff. In addition to CPS staff, the team may include birth parents, extended
family, non-family supports, the child, community partners and service providers.

Despite the TDM family-focused team approach
to placement decisions, there are several problematic issues, including possible
legal liability for the non-offending parent.

First, although privacy is respected in a TDM,
there is no guarantee of confidentiality. Any information shared may be used
for case planning, but may also be used against a parent in court, to support
a petition for removal and any new allegations of abuse or neglect must be
reported.

Second, due to state-wide budgetary constraints,
child protective services workers and others involved in the TDM process receive
minimal training in the dynamics of domestic violence or cultural competency.
This deficit provides an opportunity for domestic violence advocates to participate
in TDM meetings and to educate team members during a TDM.

Third, there are no statewide protocols or guidelines
for how the TDM meetings are to operate. Each county is given the freedom
to devise its own TDM process to address unique local community needs.

Some of these issues have been or are being
addressed by DHS. For instance, attorneys for birth parents cannot be prohibited
from attending a TDM and a TDM cannot be used to execute legal documents,
such as guardianships, personal protection orders, divorce agreements or affidavits.
A number of local communities are drafting TDM protocols, most notably St.
Clair County. These protocols are also intended to address the unique issues
of families experiencing domestic violence, including safety for the survivor
of the violence.

Finally, Michigan Poverty Law Program, Michigan
Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence and Lakeshore Legal Aid are
joining together to sponsor trainings for attorneys and domestic violence
advocates in the summer of 2006 on how this initiative is affecting families.